Showdown
by csibugman
Summary: [GSR] The showdown when they all get back to the lab. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

"Showdown"  
  
Author: csibugman  
  
Pairing: G/S  
  
Category: Angst/Drama  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Summary: [GSR] The showdown when they all get back to the lab  
  
Spoilers: after the show  
  
Disclaimer: I do not under any circumstances own CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.  
  
Notes: Special thank you to Moggie for her help and time!!!!!  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Sara Sidle, CSI 3, female, brunette, veteran CSI for the better part of 8 years or so, walked down the corridor towards DNA. She had just got back from the desert with barely anything to process, but something either way. Just as she was placing the single bag on the spiky hared lab dudes table, her waist started to vibrate and beep.  
  
Reaching down to unclip the plastic, she raised it to the light to see the few words. -' my office. G '- Staring at the words for a lingering second, she relayed her orders to Greg and turned out of his lab to head down towards her supervisors office.  
  
"You paged me?" Sara walks through the open office door.  
  
Grissom nods and motions to the door. "Please close the door and sit down."  
  
"I'd rather stand." Sara doesn't move from her stance in the doorway.  
  
Sara watches as he stands and moves around his desk to perch on the edge, holding her eyes, but not exactly looking directly at her. He removes his glasses and twirls them in his hand.  
  
Sara stares at him. "I have evidence to process, is this important?"  
  
Grissom nods slowly and stops his hand turning his glasses. He raises an eyebrow. "Yes, I need to talk to you."  
  
Sara sighs and drops her eyes from his momentarily. 'now he wants to talk.' She looks back up and says. "Grissom, I have to get this evidence to Catherine."  
  
"She has more experience with high profile cases, Sara. That's why I didn't give you, or Nick the case-" He explains out of nowhere.  
  
Sara steps forward and interrupts him before he can continue. "I'm just as experienced. My solve rate is higher and I can do this case."  
  
"I know what your solve rate is Sara. This has nothing to do with that, or you. This is about the case. I felt Cath needed to be on this." Grissom expressed heatedly, standing up as he spoke.  
  
Sara's face contorted in anger as she turned and walked out, looking pretty pissed off.  
  
Grissom rubbed his face with both hands and groaned out in frustration. "Why me?"  
  
Walking into the break room on a mission, Sara headed straight to the coffee pot and poured herself a black and sweet coffee.  
  
Nick strolls through the door and took a seat beside her after he grabbed his own mug. "What was that all about earlier?" He asks, referring to the crime scene.  
  
"The boss and his minion had seniority and can push the case how they want it." Sara snaps. "Grissom's showing favourites again." She added after a still silence filled the room and after seeing Nick's shock but bemused expression.  
  
Just as Nick was about to say something, Catherine enters with a case file and some evidence bags. "Nick, take this to Greg and get it processed. Sara, drop these by Archie before checking in on Ronnie with that paper we found at the scene."  
  
Nick pushes himself up to stand and dumps his coffee in the sink before taking the bag from Catherine and heading for the door. Sara on the other hand, stands, but walks back to the coffee pot to get a refill. "I'm busy. I've got evidence with Greg and some in the layout room."  
  
"Greg will page you when he's got anything, do this first and find me when your done." Catherine places the bag on the break room table and turns to leave.  
  
Turning with her cup in hand, Sara took a sip as she said. "Your case, you do it."  
  
Catherine turns on her high heels and stands up straight, trying to look dominating towards the young brunette. "What's your problem Sara? You gonna go all pouty over this, because Grissom wants me?" The bitchiness in her voice wasn't gone unnoticed by Nick in the hallway or Sara who stood at the other end of the room.  
  
"I might not have been a CSI as long as you, but I'm qualified to do my job and I'm bloody good at it. My solve rate is higher and I know how to handle a high profile case." Sara stares Catherine down as she sets her cup on the table and places a hand on it to lean slightly.  
  
"Grow up Sara." Catherine goads, smirking.  
  
"Grow up? Why? So I can be like you? I don't think so." Sara scoffed.  
  
"What the hell does that mean, Sara?" Catherine challenges, taking a step towards the brunette, her heels making short clapping sounds against the tiled floor.  
  
Nick looks away from the two woman for a moment to catch sight of Grissom and Brass coming towards him. He glances back at the two females brewing up a storm before going back to Grissom. "Uh, Griss, you might want to get in here."  
  
Grissom and Brass increase their pace towards the break room, with Warrick coming from the opposite direction in search of Grissom, but about to find a whole lot more.  
  
As the others gather in the doorway with Nick, Sara and Catherine are almost face to face when Sara says. "You're not my boss, Catherine."  
  
"I'm second in command-" Catherine growls.  
  
Sara interrupts. "Yeah, and we know how that happened." Sara turns and comes face to face with the gang. They looked from Catherine and Grissom at first, but then settled on Sara, who pushed past them.  
  
Grissom looks away from Catherine, who had been staring at him. He turned to follow Sara, but Warrick and Brass tell him they will go. He watched them go in the direction of Sara's blazing trail, while he left the break room and headed towards his office.  
  
Catherine stops him as everyone starts to file out. "You need to talk to her. She can't talk to me like that, Gil. I'm second in command and I'm lead. She can't just not follow my orders." Catherine prattles on. Grissom just ignores her and continues on to his office.  
  
Nick walks away from Catherine and tries to find out where Sara went, following Warrick and Brass' wake.  
  
Grissom sits in his office and stares at his desk. 'He knows he has lost control over 'this' and now he needs to find a way to fix it.'  
  
Outside in the parking lot, Sara is pacing around, hearing Warrick and Brass talking to her, but she's lost in her thoughts, trying to comprehend what just happened. Brass is asking questions about what happened and Warrick's inquiring about how it started.  
  
Nick bursts through the labs doors to find them and asks if he could talk to Sara alone. Warrick looks to Brass and both nod as they begin to walk away, leaving them in peace.  
  
While Nick and Sara are talking outside, Brass knocks on the doorframe to Grissom's office door and pokes his head in. "We need to talk."  
  
TBC 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
Grissom doesn't look up, but says. "I'm not here." He stands suddenly and walks by Jim.  
  
As they are walking out of Grissom's office, Catherine spots them. "Have thought about what you're going to do yet?"  
  
"About?" Grissom asks.  
  
"Sara?" She insists a little too loudly.  
  
Nodding as he past her, he says. "I'm going to find her now to get the whole story about what happened."  
  
They, Jim and Grissom, pushed through the lab doors to see Nick talking to Sara. Grissom starts to approach them, but Jim stops him. "Now isn't the time Gil, she needs to cool off some more before you add fuel to the fire."  
  
Thinking for a moment, Grissom watches Nick with Sara. He nods and turns to walk off towards his car. Jim follows him.  
  
"Where are you going?" Jim asks.  
  
"I need to think." Grissom replies.  
  
"You did that already. We need to talk."  
  
Stopping by his car door, Grissom sighs heavily and motions to the large SUV. "Get in."  
  
Climbing into the car, the car journey was silent for the full fifteen minutes it took to get to an out of the way diner. Grissom was thinking and Jim glanced worriedly at him a few times.  
  
Once they arrived at the diner, they head inside and order strong coffee's before settling into a window seat so Grissom could watch the bustle of the outside night traffic while he thought about what he was going to do next. He hadn't got a clue.  
  
Watching his friend closely, Jim tried to prepare himself for the possible answer. "Are you or were you and Catherine, once involved?"  
  
Grissom's head turns, not giving the right impression that his answer was good or bad, but his voice held a tinge of confusion. "It's not like that. Cath and I are best friends. I don't like Cath like that, she's a friend, nothing more."  
  
"What about what Sara said?" Jim inquires, looking down at his coffee.  
  
"I 'never' slept with her Jim." Grissom said roughly.  
  
Jim nodded, although he wasn't completely convinced. He knew Grissom wouldn't lie, but this was something about his personal life, how much was Grissom going to spread this out so no one knew the real truth about his and Cath's relationship. "Well, you are always taking her side. You work with her all the time and that gives the impression that you two are involved. I'm not the only one who has noticed, the whole lab has talked about it at some point or another."  
  
Grissom just stares out the window, his hands curled around his cup.  
  
"Ok," Jim sighs. "What about you and Sara? You two have something and whatever it is, it shows." He paused, seeing Grissom's hands tightening around his cup. "When Sara first came here, you two were great together. You worked and talked, but now, you don't even speak to her. You look straight through her most of the time and even I can see this, think about who else has-"  
  
"Jim," Grissom interrupted before he heard anymore. "Sara and I... I don't know what is going on."  
  
Jim nods. "Tell me from the start, why did you bring Sara Sidle here to work?"  
  
Staring at his coffee now, Grissom spoke quietly, almost to himself. "I met Sara at Harvard. She was a great student, one of my best. She was young, smart, funny, everything I..." Grissom couldn't find the word he wanted. He looked up and shrugged. "I really liked her. We ran into each other one day and had coffee together. We started meeting up for lunch, dinner. We did different things..."  
  
"So, you dated Sara back then." Jim said more than asked.  
  
"Well, yeah, I suppose you could call it dating." Grissom agreed.  
  
Jim leaned forward and pushed his coffee away. "How long did this go on?"  
  
"Almost a year, then I came to Vegas." Grissom breathed, not too happy about talking about his past, let alone his private life, even to a friend. "When Sara moved to Frisco, I was called in to help with a case, we met up and spent time together while I was staying."  
  
Thinking back, he smiled, albeit a small flicker of a smile. "It was like we were never apart. We picked up right where we left off." He stopped and breathed before continuing. "The day I left to return to Vegas... was... the first time anything ever happened between us."  
  
Jim was shocked, not sure weather to ask or not, but needing to know. "Was... was there something going on when Sara came here?"  
  
"At first, when Sara came here... she stayed with me for a week until her apartment was ready. That was the last time anything happened." Grissom sighed. "She met Hank and it all went to hell in a hand basket."  
  
The surprise on Jim's face was a picture. He couldn't believe Grissom was opening up to him.  
  
"She asked me to dinner not long ago." Grissom cleared his throat, the talking openly was starting to get to him. "I said no, because I didn't know what to do." He looked up for the first time. "Jim, the age difference alone is enough and I want her to be happy. I can't do that, I don't do people well."  
  
"Well, you did something because she want's to have dinner with you, that's something."  
  
Grissom rubbed his face into his palm and groaned. "Now she thinks Cath and I are involved... or have been. God knows what else she's thinking."  
  
Jim nodded in understanding. "Ok, well, Gil, you need to sit down, just you and Sara. You need to work this out because there is something there and neither of you are going to be happy until it's done." Hoping he had put his point across, Jim pulls his coffee back and takes a sip.  
  
Grimacing at his cold coffee, he stood. "Let's head back. Our pagers have been quiet, so it's safe to say they haven't killed each other yet."  
  
Grissom laughed. "They're probably waiting until I get back so they can shoot me."  
  
Stopping at the store on the way back to the lab, Grissom sneaks a pack of smokes into the car, but lights one up. Jim looked at him, clearly not remembering the last time he saw him smoke. "Could you crash me one, left mine in the car.  
  
As they park up, Grissom notices Sara standing by her car, alone. He flicks the smoke out the window and pulls out a pack of mints. Before getting out, he pops one into his mouth.  
  
Jim says. "I'm going to find everyone, see where the case is at."  
  
Grissom walks over to Sara, slowing down each metre he gets closer. "Can I talk to you?" He asks.  
  
"Sure." But Sara started before he could. "I'm sorry for what I said. I was mad and it just came out."  
  
He is about to say something when he notices she's seen his pack of smokes in his shirt pocket. The unexpected request made him flinch.  
  
"Give me one Grissom."  
  
He pulls the pack from his pocket and hands them over.  
  
She smiles and says. "I thought you quite."  
  
"Same here."  
  
They both light up and Grissom asks. "Um, could we go someplace, and talk?"  
  
Sara nods and takes a long puff of her cigarette. "Yes, I think we need to."  
  
Grissom digs into his pants pocket and pulls out his cell. He presses speed dial. He tells Jim that he and Sara are going to talk and that he'll call later.  
  
TBC 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
As Grissom drove, Sara stared out the open window. She lit up another cigarette and passed the packet absently to Grissom.  
  
Grissom took the packet and glanced at her. "There is nothing going on between Cath and me." He blurted out, the silence turning him in a mental knot.  
  
Sara doesn't say anything. Grissom pulls the car onto the shoulder, in the middle of nowhere. He turns in his seat as Sara asks. "Why do you always act like you don't know me? Why are you always giving favours to Catherine?"  
  
Grissom sighs and lights up another smoke. "I don't do favours, it's just, Cath has put her time in."  
  
"It's not just that, she's always acting like the world revolves around her and that she's always doing her best to keep me out of the loop." Sara stressed, taking a long puff of her cigarette.  
  
"Sara, Cath and I have been friends for many years and she's always acting like she is the only woman that's suppose to talk to me." He tries to explain, but not entirely understanding what he just said himself.  
  
Stubbing out her cigarette, she sighs. "Well, you and I were friends at one time too." Grissom stared at the end of his cigarette as she continued. "Then, I don't know what happened, but you changed." She looked away from him. "Griss, you won't even talk to me anymore. I remember when you would call me for no reason and just talk to me, no matter what the time is." She breathed in a shallow breath, fighting back the tears.  
  
Grissom closed his eyes and thought for a few quiet moments. "Sara, I've changed." He looked up at the roof before shifting his eyes to look out the window. "You need someone who is your age. Someone who will make you happy and have a life outside CSI." He paused before continuing in a soft, but pained voice. "I'm not that person."  
  
Sara turned in her seat and stared at the back of his head. "Grissom, don't give me that crap. You made me happy, hell you made me happier than I've ever been."  
  
"Sara, that was a long time ago. Different time and place."  
  
"Ok Grissom." Sara forced out. "You win. Lets go back to the lab. I've got paperwork I need to do."  
  
Grissom turned the ignition and turns the car around. The ride back into Vegas was too quiet and Grissom felt sick. The words he'd just said, were eating away at him.  
  
Sara stared out the window the entire time, she knew what she had to do. As they pulled into the parking lot, Grissom turned to Sara and asks. "Can we be friends again?"  
  
She didn't answer him. She opened the door and climbed out. Grissom quickly caught her up and asked again. "Sara, can we at least be friends?"  
  
"Grissom, we work together now, that's all."  
  
Entering the building, Sara went in search of Nick. Grissom sighed and turned to head straight to his office.  
  
The rest of the night was quiet. Sara and Nick worked wordlessly and that made Nick worry. He knew something was wrong, but didn't know what.  
  
When the end of shift rolled around, everyone was collecting their things and preparing to head home. Catherine pulled on her coat and asks. "Hey, Sara, you want to grab a bite to eat, just us?"  
  
"No, thanks." She declines politely.  
  
Grissom turns from his locker and watches her leave. He drops his head and turns away.  
  
Catherine saw this. "Everything ok?" She asked as the others filed out the room, leaving them alone.  
  
He turns as he pulls his jacket and some file out. "Leave me alone Cath."  
  
As Sara walked across the parking lot, Nick jogged up to her. "Hey Sar, you want to have dinner with me?"  
  
"How about breakfast Nicky, no date?" She corrects him.  
  
Nick nods and smiles. "No date, just friends eating together."  
  
As they sit in the diner and order some food, Nick asks. "How did the talk go with Grissom?"  
  
Sara looks up at him and shrugs. "Badly." Suddenly, a tear breaks free and roles down her cheek. "He says he wants to be friends, but I can't, not now." She takes in a shuddering breath. "Maybe, if things were different, I could, but..." She shook her head, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand.  
  
"So, what are you going to do?" Nick asks, watching her wipe the tears away that wouldn't stop.  
  
"Do my job." She replies, sniffling and turning away from the waitress as their food arrives. "I'll see if I can find something, somewhere else." She adds sadly.  
  
They finish their food and Nick pays before heading out and each going there separate ways. Once Sara got home, she closed the door and hung up her coat, spotting the answer machine's red light.  
  
Pushing play as she walked by, she heard Grissom's voice.  
  
"Sara, if you can please call me when you get home, I need to talk to you, it's important."  
  
Sara stares at the phone and for a second, actually considers calling him.  
  
She deletes the message and turns to head towards the bathroom. A long hot bath was what she needed right now. After a long soak and some of the tension and stress relieved from her body, she climbs into bed and although she was tired, she tossed and turned in her sleep, getting not rest at all.  
  
Grissom turns around and continues his pacing. He hoped Sara would have called him by now. He reaches for his phone and tries her home number again. He then tries her cell, getting her voicemail in return. Against his better judgement, he slams his phone down and grabs his keys. He needs to talk to her, now.  
  
He stands outside her door and knocks. After getting no answer, he tries again.  
  
Sara sighs when she hears the noise and gets up, trying to shake the cobwebs off as she opens her door.  
  
Seeing that she was in her pajamas and had obviously been asleep, he felt guilty.  
  
"What are you doing here?" She asks.  
  
"Can I come in?" He asks her, looking down at his feet. He looks up when she walks away from him, leaving him alone at the door. He follows her into the kitchen and watches while she makes some coffee.  
  
"What are you doing Grissom? What do you want?" She asks again.  
  
Grissom leaned against the counter and sighed. "Sara, what I said, it came out wrong." He looks at her and says. "I've thought about things all morning and... I want us to have dinner, see what happens."  
  
Sara stops and turns. "Grissom, I'm not some yo-yo. You can't tell me one minute your not going to make me happy and crush me, then eight hours later, decide you want me... What the hell is wrong with you?" She demanded.  
  
Grissom stands up straight and holds out his hands to calm her down. "Sara, please, I'm sorry." He didn't expect her to act like this.  
  
"Grissom, I need to think about this. I can't say yes, or no right now."  
  
"Sara, what do I have to do to make this up to you? I'll do whatever it takes." He pleaded.  
  
"You can start by treating me like a human being. We need to be able to talk to each other." She sighed and pushed her hair out of her eyes. "We need to be friends first."  
  
"I can do that." Grissom nods. Sara turns back to the coffee pot and pours some into a cup. Grissom stepped up to the pot and asked. "Can we spend the day together, get to know each other again?"  
  
Sara stares at her coffee. "I was going to stay home today and relax, but you're welcome to stay. Grissom smiles and takes the cup she held out to him so he could pour himself some coffee.  
  
Both left the kitchen and sank onto the couch. Sara turned on the TV to watch some reruns of 'cold cases'. After a while, watching TV together reminded them of a long time ago when they would spend weekends relaxing in front of the TV, together.  
  
As the day drew out, they talks and laughed, just really enjoying their time together. After a few programs and a little banter, Grissom looked down at his watch. "I guess I better go. We have around 4 hours until shift starts."  
  
Sara got up and walked Grissom to the door. She let him lean in and give her a friendly hug. "I'll see you tonight." He said, smiling and stepping back until his was outside her door. Sara smiled and nodded before closing the door.  
  
TBC 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
It was nearing late afternoon when she drove past various sets of Vegas town apartments. Her daughter Lindsey was strapped in the back. Catherine was on her way across town to drop her off at her school friend Janie's house. As she was driving by Sara's apartment she saw Grissom leaving and walking towards his SUV.  
  
Suddenly her blood begins to boil and all sorts of thoughts and feelings rushed through her. 'Something must have happened' She told herself. 'It was evening after all, shift ended hours ago' The fact that he was still in his work clothes made Catherine even more angry, until she was in the full blown jealousy stage, but her daughter came first and she wouldn't lose control or her temper in front of Lindsey. So, She held it in, she'd wait, she'd wait until shift starts.  
  
Later, when everyone arrived at CSI, everyone gathers in the break room for assignments. Catherine waits in the wings, watching and waiting to see what happens when Sara finally gets there.  
  
Grissom was in his office, working on finishing up some paperwork before shift started, but Catherine was outside his office and as soon as her eyes spotted Sara enter the locker room, she followed.  
  
Catherine had noticed that Grissom seemed different than his usual self and she knew it would be down to one person and she wasn't going to let her get away with it.  
  
Opening her locker, Sara pulled out her gun and clipped it to her belt. She saw Catherine push through the door, but chose to ignore her as she got ready for shift. She sat on the bench and grabbed her shoes to change into.  
  
"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black." Came the sarcastic smart comment from Catherine, who stood by the door.  
  
Sara looks up as she stands. "What do you mean by that?"  
  
Catherine rolls her eyes and huffs out a laugh. "Look in the mirror will ya, Sara."  
  
Not liking where this is going, Sara begins to get agitated at the older woman's attitude.  
  
"Well, I guess you've gotten what you wanted now." Catherine continued in a smartass tone. "Too bad I already had it." She turns and leaves Sara confused and standing alone in the locker room.  
  
Thinking frantically over Catherine's little comment suddenly hit her in the head with pure clarity. Sara frowns, then turns to her locker before slamming it and kicking it hard, leaving a large dent. She's not letting Catherine get away with that.  
  
Leaving the locker room in search of Catherine, she stopped once she turned the corner to see Catherine standing too close to Grissom with her hand on his arm. That didn't go down too well with Sara and she turned, storming off.  
  
Missing it by a second, Sara would have seen Grissom pull his arm from Catherine's tightening grasp and stepped back. "Mind your own damned business Catherine." He snapped. He pushes past her and heads towards the break room to hand out assignments, although his temper was on a short fuse, he still had a shift to run.  
  
"Seeing as there are no fresh cases, Warrick, Nick and Catherine, continue with your current cases and find me if you need anything." Grissom informs them once he explained about the lack of cases for the night.  
  
Sara looks up from her seat on the couch and asks. "What about me? What do you have for me to do?"  
  
Catherine rolls her eyes and mutters. "Him." Everyone in the room, turns to stare at her, but no one was stupid enough to comment, since Sara was glaring hard at the blonde.  
  
Grissom clears his throat after hearing this and says. "Get to work." He turned, but not before saying. "Catherine, my office, now!"  
  
Sara smiles and watches them leave.  
  
Catherine enters Grissom's office and was instantly hit with his furious voice.  
  
"What the hell was that all about? The 'him' comment?" He clarified when she tried to look innocent. Not getting any response, he chose to continue. "Cath, I am tired of your little remarks and the attitude..." Grissom paused, thinking this over before starting up again with a new idea. "On second thought, I don't want to know. Get out of my office and if I hear anything about you running your mouth off or I hear any rumours, I will suspend you." He made it clear that he wasn't fooling anyone.  
  
Catherine doesn't take this lightly and stepped up to him, literally face to face. "Don't threaten me Gil Grissom. I will have you job so fast." She growls.  
  
Grissom's face turns red with anger.  
  
Outside, Jim is walking towards Grissom office with news on a current case and as he gets closer, he meets Sara in the hall. Both turn when they hear Grissom and Catherine's voices. What got their attention most was hearing Catherine tell Grissom that she will go straight to the top boss and tell him that he's screwing one of his employees, which doesn't go down too well with Sara or Jim as you can imagine.  
  
Jim and Sara both gasp and look at each other, but soon, Jim is grabbing Sara's arms as she prepares to storm the office. "Stupid Bitch." He hears her mutter, but doesn't let go. He tries to calm her down as she struggles to get away from his grip.  
  
"Brass, let me go." She struggled again.  
  
Just then, Grissom's door opens with him backing Catherine out of his office, red faced and seething. "Don't forget who got you this job Catherine. Keep your mouth shut or you'll be working lows life's for money and dancing the poles again in no time."  
  
"You would know about paying for it, wouldn't you Gil." Catherine scoffs.  
  
Before Grissom says anything more, he sees Sara being restrained by Jim, but she stops struggling when she hears that. Grissom is silent and Catherine smirks. Grissom looks back at Sara and can see the hurt in her eyes, but he didn't move when she pushed away from Jim and stormed off.  
  
Catherine turned back to Grissom and grinned. "I guess her little bubble got popped." She walked by him and disappeared.  
  
Grissom looks down at his feet as he leans against his doorframe.  
  
"Gil, you gotta go talk to her." Jim told him, motioning to the direction Sara had taken.  
  
Grissom shook his head. "No Jim. She knows now." He sighed and dug his shaking hands into his jacket pockets.  
  
Jim wasn't going to leave it at that. "Gil." He began sternly. "Go talk to her. She needs to hear your side of this. I know that you didn't do it the way Cath said. Tell Sara that. She thinks you went as a client."  
  
Grissom couldn't think clearly and soon, to his despair, he was on the verge of tears. Everything was falling down around him, his whole world just blew up in his face and he didn't know what to do.  
  
"Go Gil. I will take care of Catherine." Jim tells him, seeing his pale face and glistening eyes. Grissom straightens up and nods slowly. He turns and shuts his door so he can lock it before leaving to find Sara.  
  
Jim watches him go briefly, before turning and heading out on his own search to find Catherine and rip her a new one for the shit she's stirred up.  
  
Grissom starts to open the locker room door when Sara comes out with her bag hung over her shoulder. He begins to say something, but she doesn't let him. "Grissom, I don't want to hear it."  
  
He tries again, but she moves past him and walks off. He's hot on her tail, trying to catch her up, but starts to slow down when they reach the break room. He can hear Jim going off at Catherine, but that doesn't stop Sara from going in and when he gets to the door, he sees her pull out her badge, gun and pager, before laying them on the table and turning to leave.  
  
He stands in the doorway, unmoving.  
  
"Move." Sara demands.  
  
"No Sara." Grissom tells her.  
  
"Grissom, get out of my way." She orders him.  
  
He shakes his head. "Sara, no, don't do this. Lets go to my office and talk about this." Although he can see her refusing, he tried anyway.  
  
Seeing this but not believing, Jim stares at them both in complete shock.  
  
Catherine is much the same. She didn't think that Sara would walk.  
  
"Grissom, move or I'll move you." She threatened.  
  
Grissom looks into her eyes and says. "Then move me Sara." She stares at him as she puts he hands on his chest and pushes him back into the hall. He reaches for her hand and keeps his eyes locked onto hers. "Please Sara, not like this." He pleads.  
  
She pulls her hand away, tears filling her eyes from anger and hurt. "Grissom," She breathed. "Tell someone who gives a damn." She stepped back and walked away.  
  
Grissom stood there, watching her go.  
  
Nick and Warrick came down the opposite corridor. "What the hell is going on?" The pair ask.  
  
Grissom turns and walks back into the break room, not stopping until he was near enough to Catherine for her to hear him. Jim stepped in between them and the guys stood behind Grissom. All effectively waiting for something to happen.  
  
"I hope you're happy with yourself." He says, gritting his teeth. He continues, taking a shallow breath. "Now you've got exactly what you wanted." He turns away from her and pushes past the guys on his way out the door, he needs to find Sara.  
  
TBC 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
Grissom pushes through the lab doors to the parking lot and scans the lot quickly, trying to see where Sara went, but her car was already gone. He sighs and stands stock still in front of his own car.  
  
Jim appears at his side. "Gil, I'll handle things here. Go get Sara and make things right."  
  
Grissom shook his head and placed his hands on the hood of his SUV. "Jim, she's not going to listen." He groans and shakes his head. "Hell, I don't blame her."  
  
Jim watches him stand and move around his car towards the drivers door. "Where are you going?"  
  
"I'm going home." He tells him.  
  
After the SUV drives out of the CSI parking lot, Jim pulls out his phone and tries to get Sara on her cell, but her voicemail kicks in after only one ring. He tries her home phone, but only gets her answer machine. Looking back at the parking lot, he sighs and leaves a quick message before heading back inside. He meets up with Nick and Warrick in the hallway and instructs them to go back to their cases.  
  
Sara drives home, not really knowing what she was going to do, but the tears still didn't stop falling. She cried and cried for what seemed like hours. As she hurried to get into her home, she locked the door and that's when she noticed the blinking red light on her answer machine.  
  
Hesitantly, she presses play and breathes a sigh of relief when she hears Jim's voice.  
  
"Sara, please call me."  
  
Picking up the phone, she pushes in some number she hasn't in a long time. "Hey, how's it going?" She asks, going quiet for a second as she listens to the voice on the other end. "Joe, I need a favour." She breathes deeply.  
  
"Anything, you know that." Joe tells her.  
  
"I need a place to stay and a job. I will be in Frisco by tomorrow night."  
  
"What's going on?" He inquires.  
  
She gives him the run down that she no longer works for the LVPD and that she's coming home. Joe tells her to find out the flight times and that he'll meet her at the airport. After a few more words and goodbyes, Sara hung up to start packing what clothes she could get into one suitcase and a carry on bag.  
  
Her phone rings, halting her movements. She listens as the machines gets it.  
  
'Hey, This is Sara. I can't take your call right now, leave a message and I'll get back to you.'  
  
"Sara, it's Nick. Honey, if you're there, please pick up."  
  
Sara doesn't even flinch at the sudden sound of his voice. She walks over and turns the ringer off the phone and turns the machine volume down. After a few seconds of watching the red light, she bought her tickets and called Joe with the new information. Getting everything in order, Sara lays down, having felt sick, knowing that she will have to walk back into CSI with her final resignation.  
  
Meanwhile, across town, Grissom walks into his home and goes straight for his migraine pills. He grabs a bottle of water and sits down on his brown leather couch. He couldn't believe what had happened and after thinking about it over and over again, his head started to thump and soon a full blown headache had settled behind his eyes.  
  
How had things got so difficult? He kept wondering how he ever let things get so messed up. Earlier in the day, he and Sara were fine, just relaxing and talking, then a matter of hours later, his whole would had fallen apart.  
  
He turns his head and stares at his cordless phone, debating whether he should call her. Finally, he picked up the phone and dialled her number. 'damn' he thought, getting her voicemail. Debating again, he tried her home, getting her answer machine in the process. Thinking a second while he listened to her recorded voice, he sighed before saying anything.  
  
"Sara, please pick up the phone. I need to talk to you. I have to explain things to you-" He hangs up as his throat tightened and the tears that threatened earlier, started to fall down his pinked cheeks. The emotional war beating his barriers as he thinks of how much he has lost and how he would give anything for things to be ok again. After the pills kick in and the tears leave sticky trails, he falls asleep with one last tear breaking free.  
  
Sara wakes up and on her way to the kitchen, she sees the blinking light. She turns up the volume, thinking that maybe Joe had called. Hearing Grissom's voice, made the tears return as she listened, the tears only got worse. The sound of his voice breaking as he spoke undid her, which she had to fight as she reached for the phone to call him back, but held herself back and quickly deleted the message.  
  
She started walking back to the bedroom when there was a knock at the door. She stops and thinks, 'he wouldn't?' Walking towards the door she hears Jim's voice.  
  
"Come on Sara, I know you're in there. Open up."  
  
She stares at the door and waits. Maybe he'd go away, but she hears his voice again.  
  
"Sara, if you don't open the door, I'll call SWAT."  
  
Sara sighed, knowing that he was crazy enough to do something so stupid, and opens the door.  
  
Jim sees the blood shot eyes and blotchy cheek mixed with a red nose, all from crying. He closes the door behind him and listens as Sara asks him. "What do you want, Brass?"  
  
"You and Gil need to talk this out." He tells her.  
  
She shakes her head. "There's nothing to talk about."  
  
"Yeah there is, Sara. You two love each other."  
  
"No! I don't want to ever see him again." She defiantly shouts.  
  
Jim sighs. "Sara, you don't mean that. You're upset. When you think things through, you'll want to talk to him."  
  
"Brass," She starts. "I don't have anything to say to Grissom, now please leave." She opens her door and waits for him to leave.  
  
Jim shrugs. "Ok Sara, if that's how you feel. Just so you know, he sorta went off on Catherine and then left. No one has talked to him since you left."  
  
"Yeah, whatever." She says, not believing him.  
  
"Sara, he did." Jim stresses.  
  
"Just go, Brass."  
  
Jim threw his hands up. "Fine, Sara, I will go, but damnit, he needs you as much as you need him." He turns and leaves her.  
  
Sara shuts the door quickly and turns to slide down to the floor. She places her arms on her knees and buries her head in them, crying and cursing Gil Grissom. After a full sob and more cursing, she got up and decided to go back to bed.  
  
Hours later, her alarm clock went off and told her it was time to get up and shower before putting on some comfortable clothes. She had to make some phone calls and do some errands before she made her journey into CSI. She phoned the moving company, leaving instructions on where to take her belongings. She picked up her suitcase and bag before shutting her door and walking next door. She's always trusted the little old lady and asks if she would be ok to let the moving company in. The old lady smiled and said that she would stay there while they packed and make sure everything was ok.  
  
Finally, she was on her way. She got into her car after loading it with a few things and thought about how she was going to avoid her co-workers when she entered the building.  
  
Arriving at CSI, she noticed that everyone was in the lab. She got out and held her head high as she walked into the building and headed straight up to the director's office. She handed in her resignation, apologising for the sudden short notice. He nodded and told her he understood and to take care and before she left, he made sure she knew that if she needed a reference, he'd give her the best.  
  
When she left his office, she bumped into Nick on her way out of the building.  
  
"Sara, what's up? Why didn't you return my call?" He asks.  
  
"I'm sorry Nicky." She hugged him.  
  
"What was that for?" He chuckled.  
  
She shrugged and smiled. "I'm gonna miss you so much. I'll call you and give you my new number soon."  
  
Nick stood there, trying to process what she was saying. "Sara, where are you going?"  
  
"I can't tell you that right now, but I will call you, promise." She hugged him again before pulling away.  
  
Nick nodded sadly. "Take care Sar."  
  
Sara decided that since she saw Grissom's door was close, he was in there, so she by-passed his door and headed for the break room. She looked up when she saw Jim approaching her, but she interrupted him before he could say anything. "Before you even start, I just gave the official resignation to the director."  
  
Jim's shoulders dropped as though a weight had just been placed there. "If that's what you really want?"  
  
She thought for a second before nodding and smiling. "Yeah, this is what I want, a new life."  
  
"Ok kid, you need anything you know how to get hold of me." He smiled kindly.  
  
Sara nodded. "Yeah, I know." She playfully smacks his arm and lets out a small chuckle. "I'll be in touch."  
  
Jim watched as she turned and walked off, leaving him wondering if he would ever talk or see her again.  
  
As Sara was on her way out the door, she saw Warrick and Catherine coming up the steps. She met Catherine's eyes as they stopped. Warrick didn't know what was going to happen and prepared himself for anything as he stayed where he was.  
  
TBC 


	6. Chapter 6 COMPLETE

Chapter 6  
  
Sara moved, starting down the steps so she could get away from a confrontation.  
  
Warrick wasn't sure why, but he was silently thanking who ever for there being no crime scene. His thought's were crushed when Catherine turned and spoke her mind, as always.  
  
"I always know you wouldn't last Sara."  
  
Warrick scrunched up his face and sighed.  
  
Sara stopped and turned, only to start climbing the steps to both Warrick's and Catherine's surprise. She saw Catherine stiffen up as she stopped on a few feet away. "You know something Cath, all your little remarks and cheap shots you've taken at me in the past, I never once stood up to you." Sara paused, staring her in the eyes. "But, since I don't work here anymore, I am now."  
  
Warrick's head snapped to look at Sara, he hadn't known she had quit, when did that happen? His thoughts were interrupted by Sara's voice.  
  
"You are a stuck up bitch." Sara continued. "Just because your ass was picked up from the dumping ground, doesn't make you any smarter than the rest of us." Staring the blonde in the eyes with such intensity, she smirked. "You're jealous." She stated simply with a firm nod. "You can't handle that Grissom didn't give you a second look, because he wouldn't want to waste his time on an ex-stripper with a coke habit who flaunts herself at every blokes pants."  
  
Catherine starts at Sara, but Warrick grabs her. "Go inside Catherine." He tells her.  
  
After a few seconds, she gave up on her anger and stormed off into the depths of the lab.  
  
Sara was walking off, but Warrick followed. "Sara, what was that? When did you quit?"  
  
Stopping, she looked back at him. "War, I turned it in 30 minutes ago."  
  
"What are you going to do now?" He asks.  
  
She smiles wanly. "I have a job waiting for me."  
  
Warrick pulls her into a hug. "I know you and I had our differences, but you are one of the best people I have worked with and I'm going to miss you something bad." He tells her.  
  
She gave him a tight squeeze. "I'm gonna miss you too. I told Nicky I would give him my new number. I will send it to you too."  
  
He smiles. "You better call and not send it by Nick."  
  
She laughs. "Ok war, you got a deal." Glancing at her watch she sighs. "Look, I gotta go, take care."  
  
"You too Sar." He waits until her car is gone before running up the steps and searching for Nick and Jim. He finds them and Greg too, all standing in the break room, looking like their puppy died. "Ok, where's Grissom and does he know?" Warrick speaks up.  
  
Jim shook his head. "I don't know if Gil knows or not. He didn't know she was in the building."  
  
Nick asks Jim. "Who's going to tell him?"  
  
Greg spoke up. "Don't look at me. I'm not going to be the dead labrat messenger."  
  
Jim sighs. "Ok, come on. God knows this can't get any worse."  
  
Warrick stopped them. "Yeah it can."  
  
"What do you mean?" Jim inquires.  
  
"Sara saw Catherine on her way out and there was this blow-up."  
  
Jim rubbed his face. "Great, just what we need. Where's Cath? Gil doesn't need her shit now."  
  
"Don't know. I just told her to come here."  
  
They all decided to head down to Grissom's office. Seeing the door closed, each one looked at each other. Jim knocks and after getting no answer, he opens the door gently.  
  
Grissom looks up. "What do you want?" They all stood there in silence, not sure how to say it. Grissom took their silence and spoke up instead. "I take it you all have heard the news that Sara has quit." They all nodded. "Warrick, Nick , go back to work. Greg, don't you have samples to run?"  
  
Jim entered the office and closed the door. "Gil, are you ok?"  
  
"I don't know." Grissom sighs. Jim waits, not sure how to take that, but doesn't have to wait long. "Jim." Grissom sighed defeatedly. Jim knew he was about to witness the worse part for himself when he heard Grissom use that tone with him. "Robert called me when Sara left his office."  
  
Jim looks at him and asks. "Gil, why didn't you come and say goodbye to her? Everyone else said their goodbyes."  
  
Grissom looks up at his old friend. "I couldn't." He whispers.  
  
Jim nodded and understood. "Look, Gil, if you need to talk or you just want to go get knee crawlin drunk, I'm here for you."  
  
He huffed a breath. "You know Jim, Sara could have come to me and told me she was leaving."  
  
"Gil, she couldn't say goodbye either." Jim tells him softly.  
  
Grissom tensed up a little and Brass saw the robot look on Grissom face, he didn't like this look. "Gil," Jim spoke. "I talked to Sara yesterday. I went to her apartment."  
  
Grissom stiffened at the thought of Jim being at Sara's apartment.  
  
"Gil, when I got there... Sara had been crying. She was so upset."  
  
Standing up from his desk, Grissom says. "Jim, we have work to do. I don't want to discuss this any further."  
  
Jim shook his head. "Ok Gil, if that's the way you want it." He leaves Grissom, but sees him walking towards the locker rooms shortly after leaving his office.  
  
Noticing a piece of paper stuck to his locker, he looked carefully at it, reading the writing. ATT: GIL GRISSOM  
  
He takes the note off his locker, wondering what it says. He walked back to his office, forgetting why he went to the locker room in the first place. Sitting down, he sighed. He opened the envelope and knew immediately knew who it was from. His eyes closed briefly, hoping he could read it. He looks down and starts to read the letter.  
  
Dear Griss, By now you have been told I left. I'm sorry for the way things have turned out between us. Please don't be mad or upset about this. What I did was for the best. We both know it would not work if I stayed after everything that has happened and the things that have been said. We are both better off without each other. This was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, I don't regret us. I will always treasure what we had and you will always have a special place in my heart. I wish all the best and I hope you find some happiness in your life. Take it easy on everyone. Greg will be a good CSI. Nick deserves the key position, he has worked hard for it. Griss, I'm sorry that you are reading my goodbye instead of hearing it face to face. Griss, I will miss you so much, thank you for teaching me so many things. There will be a delivery coming for you, please take it. Love Sara. P.S. There was no chalk that night.  
  
He folded the letter and absently wiped his eyes. Sitting there for a few moments, a young woman knocked on his door.  
  
"Excuse me Mr. Grissom. I have a package for you."  
  
Getting up, he signed the clipboard and thanked her. Taking the package over to his desk, he heard Jim tap on his door and poke his head in. "Gil, let's go get something to eat."  
  
"Give me a sec." Grissom replies.  
  
"What you got there?" Jim inquires, not getting too close. Knowing Grissom, it was a bug of some kind.  
  
Grissom opened the package and lowered his head as a wide smile appeared on his face. He removed the most beautiful orchid from the box and took the card that sat in the small pot. He chuckles as he reads it.  
  
FROM SARA  
  
Fighting back the onslaught of tears, he knew that it was over.  
  
"You ok Gil?" Jim asks, hearing him sniffle.  
  
"Yeah Jim," He sighs. "I'm fine." He sniffles again.  
  
Grissom places the plant on his desk and the card back in it's holder. When he turned the card, he saw writing on the other side. Grissom had to smile.  
  
FROM GRISSOM  
  
She kept the card.  
  
They walked out of the office, heading for the doors of the lab. Jim can't hold in his question any longer and asks. "What was the plant about?"  
  
Grissom didn't say anything.  
  
After a few months and trying to train Greg to be a CSI, the lab was back to normal. Catherine had switched to days, using the excuse of being able to spend more time with Lindsey. Nick got the key position, Jim was transferred back to CSI and Grissom resigned as supervisor and requested to go back into the filed, leaving Jim with the paperwork and headaches.  
  
Sitting in the break room one quiet night, board out of their minds, Nick and Warrick were playing video games and Griss and Jim were playing a card game. Out of no where, Grissom's phone beeps at him.  
  
-norman "pushed"  
  
It beeps again.  
  
-norman "jumped"  
  
It beeps again and by now, Grissom is standing and walking towards the doors.  
  
-norman "fell"  
  
He pushed through the doors to go outside. He walks down the steps and stops when he hears. "Wouldn't you if you were married to Mrs. Roper?"  
  
Grissom closes his eyes and recites the words he knows by heart and remembers too well. "I don't even have to turn around, Sara Sidle."  
  
The rest of the gang stand at the door, watching with the biggest grins plastered across their faces as they watch. Grissom walks over to Sara and smiles. Sara returns with one of her own brightest smiles and steps into him as he reaches her.  
  
A new chapter ends the way it begin, when Sara came to Vegas  
  
THE END 


End file.
